Thursday, May 28, 2015

ISIS ‘will not destroy’ Palmyra ruins, only statues

Footage
released by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) showed the ruins
of Syria’s Palmyra untouched as the militant group claimed it only
destroy statues which it deems polytheistic, the Guardian newspaper
reported on Wednesday.Palmyra is home
to a massive Roman theatre where ISIS reportedly executed 20 foreign
fighters earlier this week who had been fighting alongside forces loyal
to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

ISIS militants have
reportedly executed at least 400 people in Palmyra since capturing the
ancient Syrian city, Syrian state media said earlier this week.

A
YouTube account believed to be affiliated with ISIS posted a video on
May 26 showing parts of the city’s ancient ruins and colonnades. It was
not clear when the video was shot.

An activist with an
anti-regime group in Palmyra said the ruins have not been damaged adding
that ISIS said they would only destroy statues they deem idolatrous.

“They
haven’t been damaged and members of the organization [ISIS] told
residents that they will not damage the city’s antiquities, but will
destroy the idols,” the activist with the anti-regime Local Coordination
Committee for Tadmur, was quoted by the Guardian as saying.

“Perhaps
it’s because the Palmyra antiquities are mostly columns and large
buildings and not statues of people, which they consider idols that must
be destroyed, and they have no problem with the other antiquities.”

Separately,
an anti-regime radio station publishing an audio-only interview with
the man believed to be leading ISIS’s advance in Palmyra, known to
Syrians today as Tadmur.

Alwan FM published an audio interview
purporting to be with Abu Laith al-Saoudy, the nom de guerre of the ISIS
military commander in Palmyra, who pledged not to damage the site but
said the group would destroy statues.

“Concerning the historic city, we will preserve it and it will not be harmed, God willing,” the man was heard saying.

“What we will do is break the idols that the infidels used to worship.”

“The historic buildings will not be touched and we will not bring bulldozers to destroy them like some people think,” he added. alarabiya.net28/5/15